L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Civilization
and the Indians

[This
text was originally published in 1907 by the Bureau of American Ethnology
as part of its Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico .
It was later reproduced, in 1913, by the Geographic Board of Canada.
The work done by the American Bureau was monumental, well informed and
incorporated the most advanced scholarship available at the time. In
many respects, the information is still useful today, although prudence
should be exercised and the reader should consult some of the contemporary
texts on the history and the anthropology of the North-West Indians
suggested in the bibliographic introduction to this section. The articles
were not completely devoid of the paternalism and the prejudices prevalent
at the time. While some of the terminology used would not pass the test
of our "politically correct" era, most terms have been left unchanged
by the editor. If a change in the original text has been effected it
will be found between brackets [.] The original work contained long
bibliographies that have not been reproduced for this web edition. For
the full citation, see the end of the text.]

[The
article on civilization found below should be more appropriately called:
"the impact of Western culture on the Amerindians". It proceeds clearly
from the perspective that "higher civilization" marked the European
world; that it was normal and natural for European culture to be imposed
on Indians; that the process could only have one result: the assimilation
of the Amerindians into white culture; that this assimilation was beneficial
for the Amerindians. While it admits freely that there were some unfortunate
by-products to the process of acculturation of the Amerindians, essentially,
it does not quarrel with its end result and stresses that the younger
generation has adapted very well to the new "ways". This perspective
was typical of the views held, and policies promoted, in the period
before the First World War. Evidently, the contemporary social scientist
would not be as judgmental and optimistic. Still, the article has merit
as it describes accurately some of the effects of the coming of Europeans
on Indians.]

To
the aboriginal inhabitant of this continent, civilization entailed the
overturning of his ancient form of government, the abolition of many
of his social usages, the readjustment of his ideas of property and
personal rights, and change of occupation. No community of natives was
devoid of a social organization and a form of government. These varied,
some tribes being much more highly organized than others, but all possessed
rules of conduct which must be obeyed, else punishment would follow.
Native organization was based on kinship, which carried with it the
obligation of mutual protection. The tribe, wherever it chanced to be,
whether resting at home in the village, wandering on the plains in pursuit
of game, or scattered in quest of fish on the rivers or sea, always
preserved its organization and authority intact, whereas the organization
which civilization imposes on the native is based on locality, those
living within certain limits being, regardless of relationship, subject
to common laws and having equal responsibilities; mere kinship warrants
no claim, and the family is differently constituted. In the tribal family
husband and wife very often must belong to different units. According
to the custom of the particular tribe the children trace descent through
their father and belong to his gens, or through their mother and are
members of her clan. Modern civilization demands the abrogation of the
clan or gens, and children must inherit from both parents and be subject
to their authority, not that of a clan or gens.

Most
of the common occupations of tribal life are wiped out by civilization.
Inter-tribal wars have ceased, and war honours are no longer possible;
the herds of buffalo and other animals are gone, and with them the hunter,
and the makers of bows, arrows, spears, and other implements of the
chase. The results of generations of training are of little avail to
the civilized male Indian.

Under
tribal conditions woman held, in many cases, a place in the management
of tribal affairs. Upon her devolved partly the cultivation of the fields,
the dressing of skins, the making of clothing, the production of pottery
and baskets, the preparing of food, and all that went. to conserve the
home. Civilization puts an end to her outdoor work and consigns her
to the kitchen and the washtub, while the white man's factories supply
cloth, clothing, pots, pans, and baskets, for none of the native industries
can survive in competition with machinery. Woman, moreover, loses her
importance in public affairs and the independent ownership of property
that was her right by tribal law. No group of peoples on the continent
were destitute of religious beliefs or of rites and ceremonies expressive
of them. These beliefs were based on the idea that man, in common with
all created things, was endowed with life by some power that pervaded
the universe. The methods of appealing to this power varied with the
environment of the peoples, but the incentive was the desire for food,
health, and long life, while the rites and ceremonies inculcated certain
ethical relations between man and man. As among all races, priestcraft
overlaid many of the higher thoughts and teachings
of native religion and led to unworthy practices. Nevertheless the breaking
down of the ancient forms of worship through the many changes and restrictions
incident to the settlement of the country has caused the natives much
distress and mental confusion. It is not surprising that it has been
a slow and difficult process for the aborigines to accept and conform
to such radical changes of organization, customs, and beliefs as are
required by civilization. Yet many have done so; showing a grasp of
mind, a power to apprehend the value of new ideals, and a willingness
to accept the inevitable, and evincing a degree of courage, self-restraint,
and strength of character that can not fail to win the admiration of
thinking men. The younger generation, born under the new conditions,
are spared the abrupt change through which their fathers had to struggle.
Wherever the environment permits, the employments of the white race
are now those of the Indian. In one branch of the [Inuit] change has
come through the introduction of the reindeer. Already the Indian is
to be found tilling his farm, plying the trades, employed on the railroads,
working in mines and logging camps, and holding positions of trust in
banks and mercantile houses. Indians, of pure race or of mixed blood,
are practising as lawyers, physicians, and clergymen; they have made
their way in literature and art, and are serving the public in national
and state offices, from that of road master to that of legislator.
The school, the missionary, and the altered conditions of life are slowly
but surely changing the Indian's mode of thought as well as his mode
of living, and the old life of his tribe and race is becoming more and
more a memory and a tradition.

Source:
James WHITE, ed., Handbook of Indians of Canada
, Published as an Appendix to
the Tenth Report of the Geographic Board of Canada
, Ottawa
, 1913, 632p., pp. 101-102.